Hey Pal! Can You Help a Mother Out?

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you may have heard me talk about an organization called Help A Mother Out. Help A Mother Out (or HAMO for short) is an amazing organization that helps raise and distribute diapers to homeless and low-income families. Most of the safety net programs for families — WIC, food stamps, etc. — do not cover diapers, so families in need are often forced to make a choice between paying for diapers or other necessities such as rent or medicine.

A year and a half ago I held a diaper drive to benefit HAMO and through the generous donations of friends, family and good-hearted blog readers who I’ve never even met we were able to raise enough money to donate 1700 diapers to help keep a heck of a lot of cute little baby butts clean!

Since then HAMO has grown significantly and now supports dozens of agencies who serve homeless and low-income families. The number of people who depend on these agencies has grown significantly due to the bad economy and HAMO is struggling to come up with the resources to meet the seemingly endless need for diapers.

This month HAMO has been provided with a wonderful opportunity to help a lot of people. If they can raise $25,000 by the end of May, Huggies will provide a matching donation of 100,000 diapers! As of today they have managed to raise nearly $22,000 but that puts them $3000 short of the goal. There is a very real possibility that they might not raise enough money and will have to forfeit those 100,000 diapers!

I’ve already given as much as I can afford to help HAMO meet their goal, but I’d like to encourage you to do the same. Can you help?

As a way of saying thank you for your donation, I’ve put together a little package of goodies that will be sent to one person who donates via the link below!

I picked up an armful of bento goodies at Daiso this morning — lots of fun stuff I would use myself:

This assortment includes:

A yellow single-layer bento box with a locking lid

Pucca candies from Japan — chocolate filled pretzels

A set of seaside themed cutters

An ocean-themed two-tier bento box

A mini fork

Ocean-themed decorative picks

Round silicone food cups

A very cool set of silicone cups that are designed to fit into the ocean bento box

Thanks so much! If you donate any amount (even a single dollar!) by May 31 you’ll be put on the list for a chance to receive the gift pack.

UPDATE: Thanks to all who donated! HAMO met their goal!

The bento thank you pack has been claimed, but please feel free to donate to HAMO using the buttons above any time. The need for diapers is unending and there are always families who could use your help!